Picture book program in P.E.I. waiting rooms aimed at spurring conversations about tricky topics

An advocacy group is helping update the reading material in waiting rooms and public spaces across P.E.I., with the goal of deepening Islanders' understanding about a range of diverse topics.  

PEERS Alliance received funding from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation to purchase picture books and make them available for free in places like medical waiting rooms, hair salons and coffee shops. 

While the books are written and illustrated with an audience of young children in mind, they can also help anyone make sense of a complex topic. 

"They're accessible to families, but they're also accessible to adults… who may have limited reading levels, folks who may have visual impairments who can't quite see smaller fonts, they're accessible to folks working in their second or third language," Kels Smith, the youth program co-ordinator with PEERS Alliance, told Island Morning host Mitch Cormier.

"They're also something that can take a very large complex idea and make it something that's easier to understand with attractive pictures and wording… If you're in a waiting room for five or 10 minutes, you don't have time for a chapter book but you have time for a picture book." 

The Waiting Room Library program has seen significant uptake. Smith said 56 community groups and health practitioners have signed on for a total of 24 waiting rooms or public spaces so far. 

Each of the rooms gets five books that were either purchased new or found in consultation with P.E.I. Public Libraries. 

Island Morning5:28Building kinder communities, one waiting room at a time

A new project is providing picture books about complex topics to waiting rooms and other public spaces across the province. We hear from Kels Smith, who's behind the project.

Smith said the concept of the program came to her after she read some of the picture books and realized they do a great job of distilling topics that can often be difficult to discuss. 

"The idea just kind of came up that maybe we could get these into public spaces where folks are often passing through," Smith said. "Waiting rooms are those spaces where, you know, we all have to spend time in them, so we have folks of all ages, folks of all backgrounds sharing these spaces."

PEERS Alliance will officially open the Waiting Room Library with a kickoff event Dec. 11 from 4-5 p.m. at the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre. 

Smith said there are still books available if more people want to take part in the program. 

"This would be a success for me, just to see those books out in communities, see folks exploring the joys of reading and… learning to be kind and building caring communities."